Hillary: I take responsibility for Benghazi

posted at 8:48 pm on October 15, 2012 by Allahpundit

Fearless prediction: With Hillary having now formally accepted blame, President Above The Fray will magnanimously volunteer at tomorrow night’s debate that, no no, it is with him that the buck ultimately stops. The White House has been holding off on doing that because they’re desperate to frame this as an internal problem at State. Now that Clinton’s gone and done that, Obama can pose as a stand-up guy and loyal boss by symbolically accepting responsibility on behalf of the people who are really at fault.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the bucks stops with her when it comes to who is blame for a deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

“I take responsibility” for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Elise Labott soon after arriving in Lima, Peru for a visit. The interview, one of a series given to U.S. television networks Monday night, were the first she has given about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Clinton insisted President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not involved in security decisions, Clinton said.

“I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha,” she added, noting that it is close to the election.

Ace has another quote from her that essentially puts the whole thing off on her underlings, but there’s no link and I don’t see it in the CNN story. No matter, though: She’s not claiming actual responsibility in the excerpt above, just symbolic responsibility as the head of the Department that’s at fault. Given how the public generally respects showy professions of blame, it’s really the easiest thing in the world to make a “buck stops here” statement. The One himself would have done it weeks ago, I’m sure, if not for the fact that he’s caught in an election death struggle and knows the GOP would have hammered him with it. (As I explained above, it’s safer politically for him to do it now that Hillary’s chimed in.) The only way to make a “buck stops here” admission truly meaningful is to put some meat on the bone by identifying and correcting all the things that you’ve done wrong. Has Hillary done any of that yet? What protocols at State are going to change from all of this? Are we finished, at least, with pitiful public groveling to Islamists about how awful and terrible and reprehensible that Mohammed movie that hurt their feelings was?

Here’s the real question: Did Obama put Hillary up to this or did she do it on her own initiative to put O on the spot? As I’ve explained, I think this actually helps him by letting him accept symbolic responsibility while continuing to shunt actual responsibility onto State. But maybe I’m wrong. A friend e-mailed me after I wrote this post on Friday scolding me for thinking that Obama might throw Hillary under the bus rather than vice versa. After all, she’d have an easier time running in 2016 against President Romney than she would trying to succeed a two-term Democratic president. (Although, in that case, why did Bill Clinton give a wildly successful speech for O at the convention?) And as I said Friday, there is political peril for O in having Hillary go first on this. Potentially, he’ll look weak and diffident tomorrow night by following her lead, not loyal and magnanimous — and maybe Hillary knew that when she stepped up. Expect Romney to hammer that point, especially given how much he enjoys playing the Clintons off of Obama. What kind of “leader” says “the buck stops here” only after it’s already stopped somewhere else?

Here’s the vid, via CNN. This will, assuredly, be used against Hillary in 2016 if she runs, but I think she figures that between her high favorables and the fact that the public likes when executives “take charge” by accepting blame or whatever, she’ll be forgiven by voters. Quite possible.

Update: Ace e-mails to say that the Hillary quote in his post came from Wendell Goler on Fox News, who also interviewed Clinton today. They put it up on the screen sometime early this evening.

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So they admit that their policy is wrong to begin with. They are at fault for not giving adequate security and misreading the Arab Spring. Badly.

But the important part is still out there. What about the coverup? Why lie to the American people and the World at the UN for two weeks about it? The big lie is still there. It’s now just becoming a coverup of a different sort to deflect the public’s attention away from the fact that they lied after people died.

ere’s the vid, via CNN. This will, assuredly, be used against Hillary in 2016 if she runs, but I think she figures that between her high favorables and the fact that the public likes when executives “take charge” by accepting blame or whatever, she’ll be forgiven by voters. Quite possible.

Still doesn’t change the facts of the lies and cover up. Ultimately that buck stops with Obama. Surely they don’t think this ends it, right?

I think Hillary is playing Obama. She’ll step up and take blame for the event and lax security but he is left holding the bag on the cover up and multiple loes the administration is now tangled in. I expect things to get ugly for Obama on this.

There really is no question about it. Every Presidential election year there is talk about “October surprises.” Well this surprise was on Team rat-ears who thought they could spend the month dealing with Sandra Fluke’s ability to get the Pope to pay for her one-night-stands at Georgetown. Instead they have had to deal with the smoldering corpse of an ambassador in a part of the world they claim is much safer and democratic thanks to their policy of kicking Israel to the curb and obeying the demands of Muslims.

Lame. This hurts obama – BIG TIME – because no one, especially Hillary supporters, believe that she should take the blame, or is doing so of her own volition – obama can say goodbye to the majority of (the dwindling number) Hillary supporters who have supported him until now.

Obama won’t be able to resist. He’s a “Me too!” guy big time. He’ll see Hillary being lauded by the left for stepping up and accepting a little of the blame, and he’ll be just like that damn dog I had who couldn’t stand to see anyone pet any other dog. He’d be right there bumping your leg for petting if you even looked at another dog. The trap is set. I hope Romney is aware enough to spring it when the bait is taken.

Hmmm, my assumption here is that Hillary is taking the blame for lax security at the consulate. Fine. She should. Now who is willing to take blame for trying to play rope-a-dope with the American public for two weeks with the phony baloney excuse that it was a YouTube video that got the ambassador and three other Americans killed? This thing is not over.

I can’t believe some of you think Hillary is taking the fall. She’s denying him his ‘hero’ moment at the debate tomorrow night. His plan was to make his ‘buck stops here’ speech then have all his weasels leak that it was really all Hillary’s fault. Faux Chivalry fits Obama like a glove.

Does Hillary “take responsibility” for Susan Rice going on all those t.v. shows in the week after the attack and blatantly lying to the American public about what had happened in Benghazi?

Does Hillary “take responsibility” for Barry Obama’s decision to go to bed, after learning that the consulate was under attack and the ambassador’s whereabouts unknown?

Does Hillary “take responsibility” for Barry Obama’s decision to not bother meeting with his national security team the day after the attack, and instead hopping on AF-1 for a fundraiser in Vegas?

Does Hillary “take responsibility” for her and Barry Obama’s decision to stand over the coffins of the dead ambassador and the three other Americans and lie, again, to the American people about the YouTube video having been responsible for the deaths?

i started thinking the other day that this was more of biden freelancing to move 0bama in a direction. like he did w/ gay marriage. biden gets his chance to make this claim to hurt hillary’s chances in 2016, 0bama cant contradict him, that would hurt his current campaign horribly to have the president slapping down his VP in this way.

after this i think hillary may have never planned on running in 2016. it seems bill may have planned otherwise and thought he could push her that way. and while this didnt kill her political career it seems it makes it a uphill climb.

She’s denying him his ‘hero’ moment at the debate tomorrow night. His plan was to make his ‘buck stops here’ speech then have all his weasels leak that it was really all Hillary’s fault. Faux Chivalry fits Obama like a glove.

AmeriCuda on October 15, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Hmmm, never thought of that, but, if that’s it, it could be a master stroke by Hill. I just don’t see Romney’s campaign letting this go.

She and Bill are tring to look like the real leaders who step up tell the truth.
They are going for leadership of the Democrat party post Obama.

They have the axe out well ground sharp for the Chicago way.

With Obama and his open commies out of the way they can go back underground to subvert the constitution as they always have, only sneak attacks rather than the Earth First / Anti-War full bore Hugo Chavez way of Obama.

I can’t believe some of you think Hillary is taking the fall. She’s denying him his ‘hero’ moment at the debate tomorrow night. His plan was to make his ‘buck stops here’ speech then have all his weasels leak that it was really all Hillary’s fault. Faux Chivalry fits Obama like a glove.

AmeriCuda on October 15, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Interesting. Pretty much what I was asking above. I really don’t want to bet. I don’t know. But you say you think that’s the deal? You know they have to be in serious trouble for her to get to this point, right?

There is either the biggest cerebral fornication being planned by these guys or the wheels are coming off the wagon two at a time.

Hillary took the blame for Libya because an 0bama surrogate was going to release information that Hillary and Huma were giving away state secrets while having secret meetings at a private hot tub health spa with women that had earlier in the year been pre-screened by the secret service.

My oh my, look who’s getting to wear the blue dress now. And, you can bet Hillary knows where all the stains are. This may be her revenge for 2008, or perhaps a Hail Mary, transparent maneuver by Team Obama to bring “closure” to the issue, an issue which is not, however, about to go away.

There is still the very real issue of the coverup, which State cannot be entirely blamed for since Obama was on the entertainment talk shows and at the UN regurgitating Ambassador Rice’s lies long after the truth was no doubt known inside the WH.

Well if Hillary is responsible for the DEATHS of our State Dept. personnel, doesn’t she think it might be a nice idea to toddle out to the cameras and APOLOGIZE to the American people before she RESIGNS her office? And doesn’t she have some answering to do before Congress? If Hillary Clinton is responsible for these deaths, this is more that just an “oops-sorry-about-that” moment.

Oh… and while we’re at it, didn’t Obama tell us that it was going to be HIS job to set the policy in the Middle East, or was he just too busy with all those Hollywood fundraisers and talk shows? And exactly WHO gave Susan Rice her instructions before she went on SIX different talk shows to lie to the American people? Did Hillary do that too?

I can’t believe some of you think Hillary is taking the fall. She’s denying him his ‘hero’ moment at the debate tomorrow night. His plan was to make his ‘buck stops here’ speech then have all his weasels leak that it was really all Hillary’s fault. Faux Chivalry fits Obama like a glove.

AmeriCuda on October 15, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Good point! He no doubt had that planned. Mitt would go in for the kill, and Zero would man up and say “I’m responsible.” Now he has to explain why “she’s responsible.”

If Hillary taking the fall is the game they want to play, then fine. Pressure should be brought on Obama to immediately fire Hillary. Make them play by their own rules they set for Republican administrations.

On Friday, a CNN reporter asked Hillary Clinton what she was doing as the attack occurred, and Clinton responded with a 400-word answer that avoided the question. Here was the colloquy:

QUESTION: … could you tell us a little bit about what you were doing when that attack actually happened? I know Charlene Lamb, who as the State Department official, was mentioning that she back here in Washington was monitoring electronically from that post what was happening in real time. Could you tell us what you were doing? Were you watching? Were you talking with the President? Any details about that, please.

SECRETARY CLINTON: … I think that it is very important to recognize that we have an investigation going on. [Blah, blah for 222 words]. So that’s what an investigative process is designed to do: to try to sort through all of the information, some of it contradictory and conflicting. [Blah, blah for 76 words]. So I’m going to be, as I have been from the very beginning, cooperating fully with the investigations that are ongoing, because nobody wants to know more about what happened and why than I do. And I think I’ll leave it at that.

QUESTION: Mrs. Secretary, if you could, the question was –

SECRETARY CLINTON: I know, but I’m going to leave it at that.

Later on Friday, the State Department spokesperson was asked why Clinton hadn’t answered, and provided this response:

As you know, she’s not that interested in focusing on herself. But obviously, she was here very late that night. She was getting regular updates from both the DS Command Center and the senior NEA leadership in the building, she was making phone calls to senior people, and so she was obviously very much involved. But I think she was not interested in sort of giving a personal tick-tock. It’s not the way she operates. [Emphasis added].

Hillary has not accepted responsibility. She has blamed security “experts”. However, this is all the media needs to now blame pubs. for politicising this if they continue to talk about it. Long story, short version. This is now a non issue just like Fast and Furious. Romney could get in a few licks at the debate, but the press will skewer him as beating a dead horse. Dems are always at least three steps ahead of Pubs. Pubs are always playing catch-up.

Obama at the debate .As you all know my brave Sec.of State has taken full responsibility for the attack in Benghazi and i have order a full investigation .It would not be ethical for me to comment on this on going investigation at this time.But i assure the American people that we will bring these people to justice when this investigation is complete some time next year i will have a statement.

She takes the blame for the security failure. Coverup is his. She wins.

petefrt on October 15, 2012 at 9:27 PM

Someone play devil advocate here. How does any of this translate to an uptick in the polls for these guys. I don’t see it getting spinned to the point where the undecideds and Independents get headed back to obama and biden.

As far as they’re concerned its a matter of, to hell with the lives lost, their families, national security, the nation, what is right, just so long as their political ambition is served and well satisfied.

When does corruption reach such a point of saturation that NO ONE can dismiss it or attempt to justify it? When will the American people demand justice and the truth?

A lesser employee may eventually be tagged with the ‘internal’ failure at State. It hardly matters, except possibly to that employee and their own family. Those truly responsible have shrugged off the responsibility of their own failures, and moral and ethical failing, as easily as they’ve shrugged off their own conscience.

When I saw Obama and H.R. Clinton standing over those four coffins, using them as props for their own political ambitions, I was ill. Today that sensation is repeated with this display of political expediency.

Ah yes, I can hear the question now. “Governor Romney, why didn’t you wait a few days before criticizing Obama over Benghazi? Mr. President, do you care to comment?”

mpthompson on October 15, 2012 at 9:32 PM

Answer: Uh, Candy, if that is your real name, why did Shrillary take 34 days to admit this? Do you honestly think she takes two steps without her boss, who’s supposedly involved in every aspect of the presidency, you know, the smartest precedent evah, knowing exactly what she was doing?”

There are two issues with Benghazi: the security lapse and the propagada campaign. Hillary has just removed security from the discussion of ‘who’s to blame’ and has gently nudged our eyes back to the WH for the ‘fog of war’, the propaganda campaign. ‘Fog of war’ seems like a dogwhistle term for smokescreen. Hillary is playing chess, and the WH is playing checkers.

She may just be trying to run the clock out by taking the pressure off the security problem in Benghazi. The legacy media is positive that there is no coverup. So that solves the problem from their point of view.

So, the Obama adm. handed the ATF all that tax payer money to hand to drug mules to buy guns and haul them to Mexico and sell them to drug dealers but they did not have the money to protect Amb. Stephens.